solar ypsi

Michigan gets more sunlight than Germany. Why does that matter? Germany happens to be the world leader in solar installations. But we lag far behind Germany in terms of how much of our solar energy we harness. In this segment of WEMU’s “The Green Room,” Barbara Lucas looks at factors that may spur more local folks to go solar.

Solar Ypsi is close to kicking off another season of work trying to expand the use of solar power in Ypsilanti.

Solar Ypsi founder Dave Strenski says their first project will be to install solar panels on the roof of the Freighthouse in Depot Town. After that, they'll turn their attention to the building that houses the city's fire department.

"They need a new roof," Strenski says, "and so we want to try and figure out if they can integrate solar with that."

Ypsilanti continues to push forward with a goal of becoming a solar destination.

What began as a grassroots effort in 2005, has progressed to the point where the Ypsilanti City Council has passed a resolution establishing a goal of having one-thousand solar roofs in the city by the year 2020. Our guest this week is Dave Strenski.

He launched Solar Ypsiback in 2005, and you can see the grassroots efforts successes at a variety of locations around the city.

Environment Michigan Tuesday night made a presentation to Ypsilanti City Council on how the city could become a solar energy leader in Michigan, but its recommendation that the city set a goal of having solar panels on 1,000 roofs by the year 2020 was not immediately acted upon.

A new report says Ypsilanti could benefit both environmentally and financially from becoming a “solar destination”, and recommends the city set the goal of having solar panels installed on 1,000 city roofs by the year 2020.

Environment Michigan says the city would benefit from revenue from permits that would be required to install solar panels.

The group says a study in California showed solar panels added $20-thousand to the value of a home.